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“And that’s why Eerie Ink Caps are healthier than Garden Mushrooms.” Archmage Arlee, Portal Knight – First Rank, concluded. With a smile she turned back to her friend. Arlee had been getting better at reading the facial expressions of the Spectral Knights, and Archmage Faris XII didn’t look argumentative. Disappointment was not the emotion Arlee was aiming for with her debate, but she’d take it. Faris had clearly decided her best path was to not respond, instead bury her head in her hands, because that’s what she had done, elbows buried in the mushroom bits that littered the table between the two archmages. In Arlee’s defence, she’d found that she was better at explaining her points through physical explanations.
Seeing Faris wasn’t ready to resume conversation, Arlee pulled out her Arcane Map. A magic map was not something Arlee thought would be an important tool in her role as a Portal Knight, but the item had long since wormed its way into her heart. It allowed her to utilise the Portals with barely any trouble, as well as quickly provide important information on the islands. Similar maps weren’t common, but she had met a few who used them to travel the islands. Moving the mushroom caps to the side, Arlee placed her map into the table. A new alert stared back at her.
She wasn’t sure how they did it, but occasionally one of the Spectral Knights or Guild leaders would indicate that something was amiss on one of the islands. Arlee, upon noticing the alert, would travel to the island and deal with the arising problem. It was a system Arlee was content to uphold, although she wished that the Mage Apprentices in Glimmerglen would join the Portal Knight’s ranks so that everything didn’t rely on her.
The alert that Arlee had received was a new type of mission, and after months full of what she had dubbed “events”, that was impressive. Through her confusion, she was glad it wasn’t yet another invasion. An image of what appeared to be a spotted egg stared back at her, the heading declaring it an Egg Hunt. Likely seeing the confusion on Arlee’s face, Faris moved around the table to her side.
“What’s wrong?” She asked. “Finally found something you’re not able to defeat?” She added with a grin.
Arlee smiled back at her. “Nope, just a new event. Someone wants me to hunt eggs.”
Arlee slid her map towards Faris, disturbing some stems in the movement, in case the Spectral Knight didn’t believe her. Faris leant in to read the alert, and laughed. That surprised Arlee, who hoped she hadn’t missed a joke somewhere.
“Yeah, that would happen once a year back in the old days. I had no idea it was still happening.” Faris explained.
“What’s it about?” Arlee asked, fighting her urge to take notes. There was so much information she was expected to remember, yet so little space in her head to store it.
“Eggs were scattered around a small area. They’d hide under shrubbery and hills, blending into the surroundings. We'd hunt them and craft a Golden Egg as a prize.”
“Why?” Arlee asked. “What’s the reason for it? How did they appear? Did someone place them?”
Faris stared at the mushrooms littering her table, picking a piece up then placing it back down.
“I’m not sure,” She said, finally. “I don’t know if I’ve forgotten or I just never knew.”
“It’s okay,” Arlee assured, placing a hand on Faris’s shoulder. “It’s reasoning doesn’t affect me needing to hunt them.” It also left room for information that could be more important.
Faris nodded, a small smile returning to her face. “Yeah, it shouldn’t. Have fun.”
Arlee nodded, focusing on travelling to the island the alert indicated the eggs had inhabited. “I'll try.”
Arlee sometimes forgot that Squire’s Knoll existed. It wasn’t intentional, she tended to forget all the islands that weren’t super important to her job. Squire’s Knoll had never harboured any threats to Elysia, thus it didn’t need to be monitored. Landing, she made a mental note to visit more often, its peaceful nature far different from the islands Arlee frequented. Arlee pulled out her map, checking the alert for additional information. Collect 3 types of eggs. Craft a Golden Egg. Yeah, that was doable.
Stepping off the Landing Pad, Arlee headed towards the forest. Faris had said they’d hide around shrubbery, so that seemed like her best bet. She ignored that she had no idea what they really looked like, just that they were egg-shaped. Stepping under the tree cover, Arlee looked around. Nothing instantly stood out to her, the familiar green, brown, red, white and yellow of Squire’s Knoll undisturbed by obvious signs of eggs.
A splash of pink caught her eye. Turning, Arlee noticed a striped yellow and pink egg half under a berry bush. Alright, that’s what one of them looked like. She approached, pickaxe swinging. Upon making contact, the egg exploded, leaving three smaller eggs in its place. Was… was that… supposed to happen? Arlee slowly bent down, glancing around to make sure it wasn’t a trick. Nothing leapt out to attack her, so Arlee felt it was okay to pick up the eggs. They were smoother than parrot eggs, decorated with two bright colours. Arlee slipped the eggs into her pocket.
The change of perspective allowed Arlee to see an object hidden between two trees. Closing the distance, Arlee was able to make out an orange and blue egg. A quick pickaxe swing resulted in 2 of the smaller eggs. Sliding them into her pocket, Arlee scanned the visible forest for more. Seeing nothing, she walked closer to the hill the island's sole Portal rested on. Arlee took a second to glance around. She wasn’t sure how many eggs would hide close to each other, something that could be the difference between completing the hunt relatively quickly or spending hours on the task.
A blow to her side threw Arlee off balance, causing her to awkwardly try to adjust her stance while pulling her wand from her belt, pulse pounding in her ears. Anticipating another attack, she swung around, brandishing her wand while just able to stay upright on her feet. Her eyes darted around before they landed on her attacker. A green and purple egg flew at her again, Arlee managing to cast an orb of magic that shattered the egg on impact. 4 smaller eggs fell to the ground. Arlee tried to recall her conversation with Faris with clarity. She hadn’t said anything about the eggs hunting her. Then again, a lot had changed since the Fracture, the Hollow King’s influence seeping into every corner of the shattered planet. His influence corrupting some of the eggs was believable, albeit annoying. Fifteen eggs of the three types. Watch out for the corrupted ones. Craft a Golden Egg. That was easy, she could do that.
Why were yellow and pink eggs so hard to find?! And green and purple ones so common? Sure, Arlee appreciated having more green and purple eggs than she knew what to do with, but yellow and pink ones were needed for the recipe, which seemed to be avoiding her. At her wits end, Arlee resorted to her final option. Conversation. Approaching the farmhouse she had already searched multiple times, she saw one of Squire's Knoll’s residents working in her garden. Upon hearing her footsteps, the resident in question turned to face her.
"Portal Knight," She greeted. Arlee noticed she was far older than most of Elysia’s remaining residents.
"Hello… " Arlee struggled to remember if they had ever been properly introduced. She didn't remember ever receiving a quest from the woman, but that didn't mean much. She could have forgotten, it would have been the start of her journey.
"Janine," Janine completed, smiling. Arlee smiled back.
"Janine, " Arlee continued. "Have you seen any strange eggs around?"
Janine rested her arm on one of the mushrooms she was growing, a frown on her face. Arlee wondered if the farmer would back her up on her mushroom health claims.
"Other than the ones you'd found, I don't believe so." Janine responded. “I’m sorry.”
"It’s okay. Thank you anyway," Arlee said, turning back to her hunt as Janine presumably returned to her farming, Arlee hearing her hoe making contact with the dirt. Fruitless conversation, but worth the effort. Extremely worth the effort, as the new trekking angle allowed Arlee to spot yellow underneath a tree. Approaching, Arlee hoped it wasn’t another wheat stalk. Squire’s Knoll had too many wheat stalks for an Egg Hunt. Cotton bushes too, but just in general, not specifically for the hunt. Moving aside leaves revealed a stationary egg, not (thankfully) one of the dreaded wheat stalks. Arlee swung her pickaxe as a smile crept up her face. The egg exploded into 4 miniatures. Arlee pulled out the eggs she had already collected, organising them into their colours. 39 green and purple. 26 orange and blue. 17 yellow and pink. Finally! Arlee’s grin widened, gathering the spoils back up to carefully return to her pockets.
“Time to craft an egg!” She whispered to herself, pulling out her map to warp home to Starspires.
“Oh come on!” Arlee screamed at an uncaring Drafting Table. 300 seconds stared back at her, sparks flying around her as the eggs began to fuse.
She’d returned to her house, headed straight for her Workbench. She’d searched through its crafting booklet before realising her mistake, recorrecting her course to her Drafting Table which seemed like the best bet. She had scanned through its crafting booklet to be completely sure it was the correct crafting station. It was, so she dismantled it to take it with her to Squire’s Knoll. She wasn’t sure if this was one of the events that required crafting on-island, the two extra yellow and pink eggs making her not want to mess it up. Re-arriving at the Knoll, she’d set up the table, carefully transferred all 45 eggs to its surface, which had started fusing as sparks began flying, and realised the crafting time was 300 seconds.
Arlee pulled out her map, looking for new events or the completion of her current one to waste time. Flattening it out, her map flooded with confetti as text informed her that the event was completed. Arlee breathed a sigh of relief at that, always happy to complete an event. Unfortunately, she was still stuck on the Knoll for the five minutes it took the Table to craft the egg. Glancing over, it seemed that the eggs were still fusing together, vaguely resembling one large egg. Still a while to go, then. Tucking her map away, her mind wandered to her to-do list.
There were some books in the Guilds that she needed to look for. She wasn’t sure her current High Reaper garments were an aesthetic she wanted to keep, despite them matching her hair and eyes she felt like the black and silver stood out awkwardly in the blues and purples of Starspires. Did she need more wood? It’s not a material she could gather in Starspires, it would probably be a good idea to gather some now, while she was on an island that carried it. Then again, she didn’t have the energy or her axe. Meera still needed Portal Stones, something Arlee was sure she had enough of in storage. She could make a detour there when she went to inform Faris of her hunt's outcome.
A loud noise alerted her to the Drafting Table’s crafting conclusion. Looking over, she saw a Golden Egg resting on the table, complete with a stand. Arlee wondered if it was made of egg, too. Arlee lifted the whole object up, its stand seemingly attached. The egg’s size was closer to the Parrot eggs she was used to, its weight was understandably heavier, but not enough to be a problem to transport it home. Arlee wondered if it had been turned to solid gold, or if she'd be able to crack it open and find yolk. Manoeuvring the egg into her pocket, Arlee moved to pack up her Drafting Table, before a thought stopped her. Didn’t Chef want one of these? Faris might also appreciate one, for nostalgia. Maybe an extra wouldn't be the worst thing to have. Arlee pulled out her remaining eggs. 24 green and purple. 11 orange and blue. 2 yellow and pink.
Damn it.